They’re called gridlines, and these lines make up tables and cells.

They form an integral part of Excels basic functions by letting you organize your data into columns and rows.

Gridlines also save you from having to create cell borders to double-check your data is easy to read.

File > Options

That’s why it’s good to know how to add or remove Excel gridlines.

What Are Gridlines and How Do They Work?

MostExcel spreadsheetscome with gridlines visible as the default setting.

Options > Advanced

However, you may receive a spreadsheet from a co-worker or friend where the gridlines are not visible.

You may also decide your data might look better without the gridlines being seen by other users.

Either way, adding or removing gridlines is straightforward and doesn’t take much time to do.

Show gridlines

In the worksheet for which you want to change the gridline colors, go toFile>Options.

Under theDisplay options for this worksheetgroup, use theGridline colordrop-down menu to grab the desired color.

After selecting the desired color, Excel 2016 users must selectOKto confirm their choice.

Select all

From theHometab, selectFill color, then choose the white option.

All gridlines will be hidden from view.

In Microsoft Excel, the Fill color menu is represented by a paint bucket icon.

Excel fill color options

Choose the group of cells where you want to remove the gridlines.

Right-tap the highlighted cells and selectFormat Cells.

you could also pressCtrl+1to get to the menu.

No Fill in the color options panel

In theFormat Cellsdialog box, select theBordertab.

Selectwhitefrom the color drop-down menu, then selectOutsideandInsidein thePresetsgroup.

SelectOKto confirm your selections.

The right click menu in Excel

There are two options to quickly andeasily restore gridlinesfor the entire spreadsheet.

initiate the spreadsheet with the removed gridlines.

Select theViewtab, then select theGridlinebox to restore all gridlines.

Format Gridlines By Section

Alternatively, you’re free to selectPage Layout, and then, under theGridlinessettings, selectView.

Selecting white border

Gridlines checkbox

Gridlines > View